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Replacing my knives

Hello, I'm Melvin currently residing in Singapore. I've graduated from chef's school awhile back and have been in the industry awhile now and feel like retiring my old set of knives. Would appreciate some help in getting new ones

all your friends suggestions are, IMO, not that great and dont get a lot of praise around here. the main reason is not that they are terrible knives or that they are bad makers...just that you can get so many higher quality knives for less money. because they are such mass produced and have advertising costs, etc, they have to charge more for knives that care and love were not put into while making.

the choices you found on the internet are all solid choices (although ive never seen a sabatier in person). if you decide on a MAC, make sure you get their top line as the others are not to impressive to me.

from what you are saying, i believe you are probably going to want to look for something stainless with a western handle. if you want to ease into japanese knives i would probably recommend the Tojiro DP. it does come in a japanese wa-handle as well if you prefer that. the other option which i almost always recommend is the
Hiromoto AS. its a great knife that gives you the best of both worlds in stainless cladding and aogami super steel carbon for the edge. just something to think about

for a boning knife i dont have too much input because i do not use them nor care for them. i prefer a 150mm petty as it does the same work and is easier to sharpen. as you mentioned the bolster in your old knives, most boning knives have the same problem. if you decide to go with Tojiro, they make an inexpensive petty knife. i have also used a honesuki but i like the flex on the petty as im sure you do if you requested a traditional boning knife.

i hope this helps and im sure others will be along soon to give you more information. trust me there is no shortage of info around here and plenty of people to help you out. one last note, i would steer you against using blade guards. they can scratch your knives and more importantly, wear out your edge faster because of the constant application from your edge to plastic. you can make your own with newspaper, tape and 2 minutes of your time.

also, people will be along soon to inform you about sharpening stones...make sure you listen to them i would have but my post is getting long and i have to go off to work.

Hi Mel - lots of detail in your post - it certainly helps - a couple of questions for you
For the Chef Knife / Gyuto
-do you prefer light knives or something with a little more weight?
-what kind of handle do you prefer?
-do you have a budget in mind?
-do you want to start feeling your way around different knives to understand what works with you, or do you want 1 knife that should generally make you happy (what's your level of OCD?)
-Do you plan on sharpening them yourself? If so have you sharpened before? (If you want to sharpen your own knives, I recommend you select an entry level knife, and move on to something a little more expensive after a few months)

For the boning knife
-do you prefer flexibility in the blade?
-do you have a budget in mind?

I'll recommend 4 for you to look at - these are knives I have, as I fell into the "want to figure out what I like, and fall into the hobby" category. All have good fit and finish, balance and will fill your needs...

Hiromoto Tenmi Jyuraku Aogami Super Series
- not a laser, but not the heaviest: best overall value, and what I'd recommend to you since you're a pro chef
-clad knife (won't rust on majority of blade, but you'll need a patina on the AS steel cutting edge)
-10g lighter than the Hattori
-Gyuto is ~$145USD.

Konosuke HD Gyuto
-Lots of lasers out there to choose from, this is the one I picked.
-Wa handle
-lightest knife here, and can be sharpened on a level above others in the list
-Laser thin, one of the more popular knives out there right now
-Stainless knife, ~$245

Tojiro DP series
-my first Japanese knife. Great knife, and performance for the money. Might be better for home use than long-term kitchen work. ie - you'll buy another knife if you get this one first.
-Western Handle
-VG-10, easy to sharpen, fairly sharp out of the box.
-2nd lightest knife in this list
-$120USD

For the Chef Knife / Gyuto
-do you prefer light knives or something with a little more weight?

I would like something in between. The Henckels I'm using now is 220 gms and kinda handle heavy.

-what kind of handle do you prefer?

I would lean towards a western style handle.

-do you have a budget in mind?

Anywhere below USD200

-do you want to start feeling your way around different knives to understand what works with you, or do you want 1 knife that should generally make you happy (what's your level of OCD?)

OCD??
Probably wanna feel my way around. (An excuse to get more LOL)

-Do you plan on sharpening them yourself? If so have you sharpened before? (If you want to sharpen your own knives, I recommend you select an entry level knife, and move on to something a little more expensive after a few months)

Yes I've sharpened before though I'm using methods from the Chinese style of sharpening knives. I picked it up learning from the chef's there. I'm gonna sharpen myself unless something goes drastically wrong and I gotta send it to a professional knife sharpener.

For the boning knife
-do you prefer flexibility in the blade?

Yes some flexibility would be nice, and I would like a western style boning/fillet knife as i find the japanese Honesuke abit on the wide side.

-do you have a budget in mind?

Anywhere below USD100

Just to add on, I've been using a set of Globals at my workplace for awhile now so I'm kinda used to the japanese style of knives. If you are wondering, they belong to the Chef of the establishment and I kinda borrowed them lol, with permission of course!!. Just don't like the handles much..

After much browsing, which took up much of today, I kinda settled on a few brands. Let me Know what you think of them.

That's all i could get. newayz if i get a *** style knife, do i have to get *** stones as well? I currently have a 5000 grit silicon carbide stone and a steel. And can some1 recommend a knife bag/roll?

The VG-10 and CarboNext are a really good value. But the CarboNext is semi-stainless, so you get the characteristics of a carbon blade with decreased reactivity to acidic foods. I have some Kagayaki VG-10, decent knives, take a very sharp edge and keep it for a long time.

I've heard lots of good things about the Carbo-next - I didn't recommend it because I haven't personally tried it - but there's a great mix of cost, weight and value there for sure. I noticed a used Hiromoto AS is up for sale - you might want to snag that before someone else does. I just visited one of the local shops and he mentioned he's had to fix many Hattori HD's as they are chippy - it's not my experience, but just a heads up on info I just picked up.

For boning, I have different preferences - non-flexible single bevel blade or use my Hiro Petty, so I won't be the best person to recommend this knife for you - I'm sure if you search the forum you'll find similar topics and recos.

For stones, you'll need whetstones... I'm no expert here, as I've only been sharpening for ~18 months - I'm not familiar with the stones you mentioned.... You'll end up spending as much (if not more)on stones as these 2 knives. I'm building a collection of Beston 500grit, and Chosera 1K, a 3K I forget the name of and a Arashiyama 6K. Lots of videos on this forum's many sponsor's websites to help you if you feel you need it.

Here are the recommendations that I would go with if I were you and edge retention was very important--you really can't go wrong with any of these, just pick based on the other characteristics it has:

1) Akifusa 240 gyuto - if you prefer a flatter profile that is conducive for push cutting; cladded
2) JCK 240 CarboNext - if you want a bit more belly and a rounder profile, called semi-stainless but has been stainless so far for me; mono-steel
3) Hiromoto 240 AS - if you want to try carbon, it's the easiest transition with AS at the edge and stainless cladding. great all-arounder